


Flower Child

by BillieBunnie



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Can be seen as either romantic or platonic, Casual situation, Cuties, Fluff, Kind of flirting?, M/M, casual flirting??, its as good as its gonna get, just casual interaction honestly, my pacing sucks lol, not enough MattTord in general, they're bonding, they're just really cute i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 01:10:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10651854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BillieBunnie/pseuds/BillieBunnie
Summary: Tord hates nature, always has, always will. Matt, on the other hand, seems to like it enough for the both of them.





	Flower Child

**Author's Note:**

> just characters, not real people guyss... bleh, i actually tried to get this done so many different times before but got stuck. still not my best, but not too bad either!
> 
> Prompt by Noodlyboo22 who just wanted the evil boy to be scared of something perfectly harmless and nature related.
> 
> enjoy bby

Tord hated nature. For many reasons.

The slightest change of weather could change absolutely everything about outside. Weather was set up like some sort of horrible Janga game; one small piece moved a certain way and everything following is altered. Dirt and mud stained and always wedged right into his projects, or, with a little unexpected rain, they would just sink into the ground. Grass itched and bled onto his clothes and stuck in his hair. Allergies that came with pollen ruined his life at least three months out of the year. And don't even get him started on the pests that came with the outside.

There was just no limit to how much Tord despised nature.

Especially now, Tord just whispered and cursed how horrible nature truly was as he fought against it in attempts to quietly lower a large, and heavy grass covered panel to the ground. The yard behind the house was usually empty around this time of day, but Tord loathed to think that he would get caught by some nosy neighbor just because of some slippery grass.

The panel was metal, but, in order to keep it properly hidden, Tord had covered it a faux ground and real grass, just because fake grass was a pain in the ass to get a hold of. The grass and dirt made it hard for him to keep a good hold on it, and he hated the way it smeared on his hands, but he couldn't just drop it.

Tord really needed to figure out a better place to put the secret entrance to his workshop. He already had one in his room, but the door had malfunctioned recently and he hadn't been able to fix it just yet. So that left him grunting and snarling at the natural foliage, wishing that the grass didn't keep growing on top of it. Honestly, prying it up had been it’s own struggle entirely. Setting it back down was somehow just as difficult, only slightly more aggravating.

After a few more seconds of complaining, the panel slipped back into place with a solid click. Tord brushed off his hands, scowling down at the space where the entrance was so obviously outlined. With an annoyed huff, he ran his foot over the edges, trying to make the grass fall back naturally. It took several swipes, and even then, Tord caught sight of a portion so obviously tucked under the hatch. Like some sort of sheet.

This was another reason he hated nature; it was a total snitch.

"Don’t move, you fiend!"

Tord nearly jumped a foot in the air at the sudden shout, his yelp of surprise catching in his throat. Panic sped up his heart as he whirled, thinking of excuse after excuse, and instantly catching sight of Matt.

Only, Matt wasn't looking at him.

Matt's back was to him, kneeling down in the far corner of the back of their yard. He seemed to be fussing with a bush, leaning in and rustling around as if looking for something. Relief flooded over Tord the second he realized Matt hadn't caught him, letting out a soft exhale.

As he caught his own breath, he watched Matt pull back from the bush, a light victorious laugh rolling across the lawn. The sound was much warmer than the afternoon sun. 

Tord narrowed his eyes, unsure why Matt was even outside. He knew Matt enjoyed the outdoors more so than Tord, as well as their other two roommates, and the ginger often went for walks or enjoyed sitting outside on bright days, reading or playing on his phone. But, Tord honestly couldn’t figure out why Matt was in the corner of the yard. 

There was a tiny garden there, as well as it's twin in the opposite corner of the fenced in yard. It was messy and cluttered, and could hardly even be considered a garden. It was basically just an overgrown flowerbed, and it had been there, framing the back corners of the lawn when they all moved into the house together. Not one of the four had openly claimed ownership of it and, as far as Tord knew, it had been left to die or grow as it pleased. Tord had been sure that none of them tended to the unorganized cluster of a garden, mostly because he couldn't recall any of them being outside long enough to really care for it.

But, now, Tord could see that Matt was doing something to the messy flower garden. He probably should just ignore it; take advantage of Matt’s distracted attention to slip into the house, and call himself lucky that Matt hadn’t noticed him climbing out of the secret hatch. It wouldn’t exactly be risky to approach, but something about this situation seemed off. Something about the way Matt had laughed, or maybe the way the sun was hitting his hair… A small voice in the back of his head said to keep his distance, but Tord couldn’t tell exactly what the threat was here.

After a moment, Tord brushed his nervousness away. He decided against just walking off, and, mostly out of curiosity, went to investigate. He smoothed his hands together, ridding the last of the dirt and grass from his palms, before shoving them easily into his pockets. With a shake of his head, Tord regained his usual calm expression as he crossed the lawn.

As he got closer to Matt, he noticed a few things;

Matt was humming softly, happily to himself. His voice was out of pitch, but it was upbeat and careless.

He was only wearing his purple hoodie, and he had the sleeves pushed up his arms to his elbows. 

Speckles of copper freckles danced down the back of his arms, along the hair there. 

His overcoat was somewhat folded next to him, a small bundle of flowers resting in the center of the fabric. 

Each of the flowers had been snipped from the small garden settled in the very corner of the yard. 

And, now, he could see that Matt had smears of dirt on his knuckles and a small pair of shears in one of his hands, dying leaves and unwanted stems clipped away and sticking to his front. It only took a second for Tord to connect the dots.

"I didn't know you liked to garden," Tord noted aloud, causing Matt to jump in surprise.

When he looked up, bright blue eyes gleaming, Tord could see sweat on his brow and a small smudge of dirt under his chin. His fearful expression melted away when he saw Tord, and a slow smile quirked his lips.

"Tord! What a surprise to see you in the daylight," Matt greeted breathlessly, sitting up straighter, and pulling back from the bushes, “I thought you were locked up in your room.”

Tord quirked a brow. "Am I not allowed to leave my room?"

"Well, no... It's just, you usually stay there all day. Unless we watch movies or eat dinner." Matt shrugged, smiling almost apologetically.

Tord waved his hand dismissively, ignoring that Matt noticed his habit of hiding in his room. Perhaps he needed to mix up his hours more; if Matt noticed his asocial schedule, then it was likely that the other two had as well. The last thing he wanted was for one of them to get suspicious and take it upon themselves to investigate.

"I'm no worse than Thomas and his little alcoholic fits."

Matt blinked, then looked away as if in thought. In his hand, he fidgeted with the clippers.

"That’s true…"

Before Matt could add another thought, Tord continued, voice casual as he gestured to Matt and the coiled flowerbed, "So, what are you doing? You're not actually gardening, are you?"

Matt hesitated, lips tightening into a nervous line. He glanced at his hands, as if checking if he could play it off. His neatly kept nails had dirt under them, and he had a small cut on the side of his hand that was recent and red. The shears in his hand had a pastel handle decorated with orange hearts. It was obviously Matt's.

"Not really," Matt started, tone utterly honest but also slow, "I'm not too good at dealing with all the details of gardening, but I do like to trim the bushes from time to time. You know, get rid of the dead bits. And snap off the branches growing out too far so they don't smother each other. I also water them and check the soil for things that could hurt them."

"That sounds like gardening."

Matt blushed, hunching his shoulders in defense.

"I just like flowers. The roses look really nice this time of year, and the peonies are pretty and remind me of myself so I-!"

"No need to defend yourself," Tord interrupted, chuckling fondly and raising his hands in surrender, "It's okay. You don't have to explain anything to me. I see nothing wrong in you enjoying flowers."

Matt flushed a deeper shade of red, but looked up. The way he peeked up under his lashes was both hopeful, and terribly self conscious. Unusual.

"You... you don't think it's a girly pass time?" Matt asked carefully.

"Oh no, it is... There's just nothing wrong with it being a girly pass time."

Matt looked at him suspiciously, "Really?"

"Of course. If you enjoy it, then it doesn't really matter if it's manly or not. Those kinds of labels mean nothing."

Matt stared at him for a moment, before a genuine shy smile finally showed. It was obvious that he had been worried about getting made fun of. Tom probably would’ve.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Tord answered and shrugged, "I am still cooler than you, though."

Matt scoffed playfully, rolling his eyes.

"I seriously doubt that. I garden a little, but you watch anime."

"Hey! Anime's cool!"

"Someone's defensive," Matt hummed back, earning a sharp scowl. 

"Your pass time is far more odd than mine." 

Matt instantly melted into a laugh, beyond amused, and, though Tord tried to look angry, Tord ended up smiling back at Matt's mirth.

"Probably," Matt admitted, tone warm and happy. He glanced up at Tord still standing there, and gestured to the spot beside him with his shears. With a friendly smile, Matt offered, "Want to sit with me? The grass is soft."

Tord hesitated, glancing at the ground in question. He thought of refusing, going back inside and watching TV. He'd prefer it over sitting in the cloudy sunlight in the grass, but the smile and the kind suggestion made Tord ignore his hatred of nature in favor of sitting with his friend.

"Eh, fine, but don't expect me to help you trim your flowers."

Tord carefully sat down beside Matt, directly beside the clipped flowers. He made sure he didn't sit on anything, and the second he sat down, his eyes flickered to the messy bushes.

Matt went back to the flowers, reaching his arms deeply into a spot that stood out between clusters of blooms, eyes focused on whatever it was he had been tending to before Tord interrupted.

For a moment, they sat in comfortable silence.

Tord looked down at the flowers Matt had picked, counting four or five different plants. The petals were all neatly in place, placed against the dark green background that was Matt's overcoat. Blue, purple, pink blooms all stood out in healthy little fans and buds. Idly, Tord reached out and picked up one. A soft, large purple rose with dark glossy leafs. Tord muttered a soft curse when a thorn pricked his finger, and Matt glanced at him, curiously, before making a noise of sympathy.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. The roses have quite a few thorns."

Tord shook his head almost disapprovingly, probably at nature in general. 

"Stupid flowers..."

Tord grumpily licked the small prick, once again reminded why he hated nature. Almost vengefully, Tord adjusted the offending rose in his unharmed hand and moved it so that he could see the thorns nestled among the stray leafs. He pulled out a pocket knife, flicked it open with ease, and carefully set about carving off the dangerous points. Matt didn't seem to notice what he was doing, and instead seemed very focused on something in the bush.

After a bit in silence, Matt finally spoke up again.

"So, what are you doing outside today? It's not that it's bad to see you or anything, it's pretty much the opposite because I'm really glad to see you, but you don't usually come into the backyard."

Tord didn't look up, blunting yet another thorn like one would sharpen a stick. Not even for a second did he humor saying the truth.

"I was looking for you," Tord lied instantly. 

"What for?"

Tord shrugged, almost to himself, not bothering to look away from the flower in his hands.

"Just curious as to where you ran off to."

Matt laughed shyly, voice almost teasing, "Okay."

This time, Tord did look up at Matt's drawling tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Matt hummed happily, "You just flatter me is all~"

Tord finished off with the thorns, glancing over his work.

"And just how do I flatter you?" Tord slipped a final word in at the end of the question, but it wasn't English, and he said it with a heavy sarcasm.

"You went looking for me. And you're sitting with me right now. That means you must've missed me," Matt explained, tone full of confidence, and he shot Tord a very smug look. The ‘and who could blame you’ was heavily implied, to the point that Tord could just read it in Matt’s expression.

Tord paused a moment, flicking his knife shut and pushing it back into his pocket all without looking away. His expression was neatly blank, just quirked, challenging brows. Before Matt could really read the look, Tord was pushing up onto his knees. 

He leaned forward, one hand coming out to grab Matt's chin. Easily, he angled Matt's face so that Tord's indifferent expression was only a few inches away. Matt started to speak, heavily confused, but Tord slipped his other hand up. His fingers brushed along Matt's hair, lightly slipping the clipped and blunted rose along the curl of Matt's ear. The bloom stood out on the side of his head among the ginger strains, and bringing out the brightest shades of Matt's blue eyes.

"And if I did miss you?" Tord asked, a careful challenge in his eyes.

Matt stuttered, surprised and flustered, hands still trained on the bush he had been tending to.

Just then, a small red and black dot fluttered through the air, from the flowers, and landed right on Tord's extended hand.

Instantly, Tord's eyes shot wide, and his face went startlingly pale. He pulled back as if his hand was on a stove, a yelp and a vicious curse barking out in a single breath. Tord frantically started flicking off his hands, and brushing off his hoodie. 

Matt stayed frozen where Tord had moved him, head angled and pretty bloom in his hair.

"Uh, Tord?"

Tord stopped practically hitting himself, body tense and posed as if defending himself. His eyes, laced with obvious fear, met Matt's, and a dangerous cherry red bloomed across his cheeks.

"I was trying to be funny!" Tord nearly shouted, voice pitched a bit high, and Matt stared at him blankly for a second more. Then, he burst out laughing.

"Oh my god, Tord," Matt snorted, helpless giggles interrupting his words, "It was just a ladybug. Oh my god, you absolute dork."

Tord bared his teeth in a grimace of both embarrassment and threat.

"I know that I just-!" Tord broke off sharply when the red and black dot returned, fluttering nearby his face, and Tord instantly flinched, waving his arms wildly.

Matt's eyes shot wide as he realized what was wrong. Then, he broke into even more laughter.

"Are you seriously scared of ladybugs?! The guy who kicks zombie teeth in is scared of ladybugs?! Oh my god, Tord, that's adorable."

"SHut uP! I just don't like them! They're small and fast and they can fly right into my face and fUCK-!"  
Tord broke off again, scrambling back from yet another swoop from the seemingly determined bug, cursing fluently.

Matt fought to control his laughter, putting down his shears. "Okay, Tord, it's okay! Ha-ha, it's just a little ladybug. They can't hurt you or anything."

"THEy'Re grOSS!"

"Oh my god-haha-!"

"SHut YOUr FACE!"

"I'm sorry; it's just so funny! Ladybugs are the cutest bug, I didn't know any one could be scared of them!"

"I aM NOT scared! I'm just- where IS IT?! Is it on me!?"

Matt nearly doubled over laughing, eventually trying to physically stifle the noises with his hands.

"Haha-I can't breathe-! Tord, o-oh my god!"

"MAtT, I WILL SHOOT YOU IN THE FACE I SWEAR-!"

After a few more seconds of laughter and utter panic, Matt seemed to get a hold of himself and catch his breath. He pushed himself into standing, approaching Tord with passive hands.

Though he still snickered, he started to try and calm Tord down, "Tord, it's okay! It's gone. You're fine. It flew away, it's gone."

Tord had a heavy scowl on his blushing face, looking both pissed and nervous. His eyes shot everywhere, looking for the threatening insect, but it seemed to have disappeared.

"It's... gone? It's not on me?" Tord asked slowly, voice unstable. His hands patted down his front and he struggled to look over his shoulder to see if the bug had landed on his back.

"No, love, it's gone. You're fine." Matt insisted gently, a slight laugh still there, but politely pushed it back. Tord scowled at him, but seemed too jittery to keep a grudge. He was inching toward the house, and had moved several feet closer to it in his scramble.

"… you're sure?" 

Tord's breathing came out in a huff, and his hands seemed to subconsciously touch his hair and front, brushing himself off over and over, just in case.

Matt took the chance to close the space between them, he moved slowly so that Tord could see what he was doing, and gently patted Tord down. Casually, Matt ran his hands down Tord’s sides and his shoulders and hips. If it were any other situation, this might be means for Matt to be flustered, but he was just too surprised at Tord’s phobia to see any sort of suggestion. The extra touch seemed to help satisfy Tord's paranoia, and he didn't even complain about Matt's soft laughs. So long as he was sure the bug was off him.

"See? No ladybug. You're safe." Matt flashed a bright smile, ending with his hands on Tord's shoulders, holding him steady. Tord was frowning still, but he let out a relieved huff.

"... Thank you..."

Matt smiled wider, "So... you still sure you're cooler than me?"

Tord bristled in response, shoving his hands into his pockets and ducking his head self consciously.

"Shut up!"

Matt laughed, pressing a soft kiss to Tord’s forehead. Tord yanked back out of Matt’s hands, face and ears the same shade as his hoodie. He sputtered an excuse about not needing to be babied before he stalked off towards the house. 

Matt stared after him, confused and amused, his hands still extended in the air. The second Tord stepped away, the offending red and black bug from before fluttered in and landed directly on Matt’s wrist. It was only when the back door slammed shut that Matt finally reacted, a fond giggle shaking his shoulders. 

“How cute,” Matt mused with a slight shake of his head, though it was hard to tell what exactly he was referring. He blew gently on the little bug, sending the ladybug puttering back into the air. Then, flower still resting in the crook of his ear, Matt turned back to his gardening.


End file.
